Epson America Inc. has debuted two new six-color photo printers, the Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340. Each features a rich set of photo-centric and user-friendly features.

The Epson Stylus Photo R220 is the most affordable six-color photo printer in Epson's line with a price tag under $100. The Epson Stylus Photo R340 is a full-featured, PC-free printer that provides a convenient 2.4" premium photo viewing monitor and memory card slots. These new printers share some improvements over the previous products, such as better color saturation for brighter reds and yellows and automatic image enhancement for adjusting a photo that is too dark when a subject is backlit.

In addition, both printers offer the capability of printing directly onto the surface of inkjet-printable CDs and DVDs and can now print from the center to the edge of the CD or DVD with no visible blank space for a cleaner, more professional look. Epson was the first and still is the only consumer ink jet printer manufacturer in the U.S. to include CD/DVD printing on its printers.

The Epson Stylus Photo R220 is a six-color printer that offers 5760x1440 optimized dpi using ultra fine ink droplets (as small as three picoliters) and Micro Piezo inkjet technology for precision color and detail, according to Epson. Customers can create customized CDs and DVDs with personalized text, graphics, and photos; and with the printer's front-loading tray, it's easy and fast, Epson reports.

This printer also offers BorderFree printing in popular, frame-ready sizes such as 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", and 8.5" x 11", and can print a 4" x 6" lab quality borderless photo in as fast as 57 seconds, according to Epson. For added convenience, the Epson Stylus Photo R220 uses individual ink cartridges and is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh systems. Additionally, the printer connects to a computer quickly and easily with its front and back positioned USB ports. The Epson Stylus Photo R220 is currently available for an estimated street price of $99.

The Epson Stylus Photo R340 is a full-featured, versatile, PC-free printer that offers the same outstanding photo quality and convenient CD/DVD printing as the Epson Stylus Photo R220. What sets this printer apart is its high-quality 2.4" LCD preview monitor, which enables customers to select, crop and print favorite photos in full color without ever having to turn on a computer. This printer also has an even more intuitive, user-friendly control panel with simple on-screen menus, which provide customers with the flexibility to make selections such as paper type, paper size and number of copies, without having to use a computer. One of the most convenient features of the new control panel is Epson's exclusive "print by date" option. This provides customers with a simple way to find the photos they want to print by selecting the date they were taken. The panel also gives customers the ability to view photos with or without on-screen text, view and select photos using thumbnails and easily select a range of photos for printing.

The Epson Stylus Photo R340 can speed through photos with its fast photo print speeds, printing a 4" x 6" lab-quality borderless photo in as fast as 57 seconds. The printer also handles text with ease and can produce a black text document at up to 15 ppm.* With Epson's patented BorderFree photo printing technology, this printer can deliver frame-ready, borderless images with no borders to trim or perforations to tear in all of the popular sizes, including 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", and 8.5" x 11".

Other flexible features of the Epson Stylus Photo R340 are the ability to save images easily to an external CD-R, Zip, or Flash memory drive and the option of direct printing from Bluetooth-enabled phones. The Bluetooth adapter is currently available for an estimated street price of $69. This printer is both Macintosh and Windows compatible and offers Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity. It is available now for an estimated street price of $199.

Both the Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340 utilize Epson's latest color and image enhancements, which result in improved quality of prints. One of these enhancements is better color saturation, resulting in prints that look richer and brighter and is most noticeable in photos with a large amount of yellow and red in them. Another improvement on the printers, Epson says, is the ability to automatically detect when a photo is too dark such as a photo that contains a subject with a bright background behind it. Normally, in this case, the subject would be dark with the background showing up bright. With the Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340, the subject will be adjusted and brightened. This automatic image enhancement feature will correct a photo that most customers would otherwise delete or choose not to print. Ink and Media for the Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340 The Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340 utilize individual ink cartridges, a practical solution which offers customers more control to replace only the color of ink that runs out.

The Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340 will be available in major computer, office and electronic superstores, a variety of retail stores nationwide and can also be purchased through mail order, the Internet and on the Epson retail Web site (http://www.epsonstore.com). The models are backed by a one-year Epson Limited Warranty and are supported by the EPSON Connection, a customer support and technical assistance line. For more information on Epson and its products, call 1-800-GO-EPSON or visit http://www.epson.com. Epson's Environmental Commitment The Epson Stylus Photo R220 and R340 have earned the ENERGY STAR by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. Epson offers a range of ENERGY STAR products. Epson encourages consumers to save energy by selecting ENERGY STAR products.